10 technology trends that will revolutionize government

10 technology trends that will revolutionize government

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If government wants to be forward-thinking, it will adopt strategies to deal with a range of technology trends businesses have already taken into account.

A recently released report, Elements of Postdigital, could be as instructive for government as it is for business. Created by Deloitte, the report identifies 10 trends or topics with the potential to fundamentally impact businesses in the next 18 to 24 months. This year, the trending issues are all technology centric – hence the title Elements of Postdigital.

The report groups the trends into two categories: disrupters and enablers. Disrupters have the capacity to create sustainable, positive disruption in IT capabilities, business operations and potentially business models as well. Enablers are technologies already used by CIOs and agencies, but which warrant additional investigation due to technological advancements or new opportunities.

Disrupters – CIOs, mobile only, social reengineering by design, design as a discipline, and IPv6

In the next two years, CIOs can revolutionize an organization by driving innovation and reshaping the status quo – particularly if the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act passes the House and Senate. The bill would grant agency CIOS significantly more budgetary and personnel authority.

Mobile only means businesses will need to think of mobile devices as the new norm. Next-generation mobile devices will further affect business norms, so organizations need to be ready to leave behind the notion of the desktop computer and all the information protection it entailed.

Businesses and government also have new social platforms for collaboration and interaction at their disposal. These developments not only help break down traditional organizational barriers, but also transform how work gets done.

Whereas design in the past was created in silos, “individual design functions may be reaching their limits. What’s needed is a collaborative, immersive environment to work together. Design is not just an ‘IT thing’ or a ‘marketing thing’ or a ‘product engineering thing.’ It’s an enterprise thing,” according to the report.

The final disrupter, IPv6, refers to the next Internet Protocol, the foundation of networking. The Internet world is running out of addressable space for addressable items, so migration from IPv4 to IPv6 is a serious possibility. New protocol entails deep and widespread change; business and government have to start preparing now.

Enablers – Finding the face of your data; gamification goes to work; reinventing the ERP engine; no such thing as hacker-proof; and the business of IT

Combining the intuitive facility of humans with the technical capabilities of machines will help organizations “find the face of their data,” and unlock never-before-seen solutions and potential.

Workplace gamification is a strategy that incorporates social context and location services to identify and encourage desired behavior and thereby, drive performance. This approach is increasingly important in today’s mobile-social workforce.

ERP engines, or enterprise resource planning engine, will face an overhaul soon. Though ERP has adapted to the changing needs of organizations over time, the engine itself has changed little. According to Deloitte, this will not last long.

It should come as no surprise nothing is hack-proof. Instead of merely developing strategies to prevent hacking, organizations need to devise ways of dealing with the inevitability of an attack, ensuring resilience in all vulnerable systems.

Finally, think of IT as a business. Outdated or fragmented systems or processes can prevent IT from delivering a full range of services. At the same time, IT may need to make internal management reforms to keep pace with evolving business needs.